Are You Wondering If Your Cats Can Eat Raw Chicken?
Last updated on May 17th, 2023 at 05:45 am
The short answer is yes, cats can eat raw chicken. However the entire story is a little more complicated than that, but if your cat got some that you dropped on the floor or otherwise it should be ok.
Today we’re looking at everything you need to know about cats and raw chicken. The main question we’re going to answer here is can cats eat raw chicken? Humans get sick from eating chicken raw, so why would it be OK for cats? Of course, some people seem to forget that cats and dogs and humans all have vastly different processes for digesting food. It’s never wise to compare what a human can eat with what a cat can eat.
That said, domestic cats and wild cats have changed drastically over the last few hundred years. Some doctors say that the intestinal tracts of a common housecat are wildly different from its ancient ancestors. Keep in mind that cats in the wild typically tear animals apart and then eat them raw. For this reason, you would automatically think that a cat can eat raw chicken very easily. But it’s a bit more complex than that.
What Are the Risks of My Cat Eating Raw Chicken?
The biggest risk to think about when feeding your cat raw chicken is it catching parasites or getting an intestinal infection. Raw chicken can give your cat parasites like salmonella, E coli, listeria, or even campylobacter. And this of course is not a great situation for your feline friend. For this reason, it’s generally not wise to feed cats any raw meat, chicken or otherwise.
There’s also the fact that your cat is probably used to eating cat food. By confusing your cat’s diet, and switching between cat food and raw chicken, you’re only going to confuse its digestive system. It’s better to feed an animal one type of food so that their body gets used to processing it.
Can Cats Eat Raw Chicken in a Raw Food Diet?
A raw food diet is a little different than just giving your cat a random piece of raw chicken. There are many veterinarians that swear by the raw food diet. But like everything else, there are pros and cons involved.
The first thing to consider is that commercial raw food diets with raw chicken are quite a bit different than a raw piece of poultry from the store. This type of food usually comes manufactured specially for your house cat to eat by using a specialized process that kills off any kind of harmful bacteria. This means your cat is not going to get any parasite when eating a purpose-designed raw food diet with raw chicken.
The main thing here is that you want the bacteria to be gone. Bacteria is always the biggest risk when feeding raw meat to an animal.
How to Feed Your Cat Raw Chicken
To answer the original question, your cat can absolutely eat raw chicken. Cats are carnivores and they eat meat. Raw chicken is a perfectly balanced food for any cat to consume. It will satisfy the protein needs in your cat’s diet, along with providing plenty of other great nutrients and minerals. However, you need to prepare the raw chicken properly so that your cat doesn’t get any nasty parasites.
Start with what chicken you buy for your cat. You always want to pick up organic chicken. The fresher the better! Then to avoid bacteria, handle the raw chicken as little as possible. Also, raw chicken must be extremely fresh. If it’s been sitting at room temperature for more than a few minutes, you can consider it already gone bad. You can’t leave the chicken sitting out on the floor in a dish waiting for the cat to come eat it.
And besides, chances are your cat won’t even eat the raw chicken if it feels that it’s not fresh. The moral of the story here is that so long as you buy the proper chicken, you serve it fresh and chilled, not soggy and warm and stale, then your cat will probably be perfectly OK. Raw chicken is actually one of the best meats you can feed any carnivorous feline.
Just keep in mind that if you are going to be using raw chicken in a raw diet, try to maintain consistency.
My Cat Accidentally Ate Raw Chicken!
If your cat accidentally eats raw chicken that was not intended for its diet, whether the raw chicken had been sitting out or was old, there is still no need to panic. If your cat eats raw chicken and is not used to it, your cat may vomit or get some diarrhea. However, chances are the sickness will pass. It won’t be the end of the world.
The time to see a veterinarian is if the vomiting or diarrhea persists. Also, if your cat appears to become seriously ill, you should see a veterinarian immediately. This goes not only for raw chicken, but for any raw meat that your cat isn’t supposed to be eating.
Can Cats Eat Chicken Bones?
You might be wondering if your cat can eat chicken bones. After all, dogs have a blast chewing on all kinds of bones, so why can’t cats do it too! Well, the truth is that feeding your cat raw chicken bones is actually more dangerous than feeding them raw chicken.
Chicken bones can be broken apart easily, and they basically turn into sharp little spears that can hurt your cat’s mouth and injure them internally. If your cat swallows chicken bones, hopefully they will pass through the cat’s digestive track without doing much damage. However, they could do some serious harm.
If for whatever reason your cat has eaten chicken bones, the best thing to do is feed them bread. Hopefully, the bread will coat any of the sharp edges of the shattered bones as they pass through the digestive system, and hopefully, this will keep your cat safe until the episode is over.
Source – https://feline-nutrition.org/nutrition/how-to-transition-your-cat-to-a-raw-diet